Hi. I'd like to buy a Longines VHP but I am wary of 50 meters water resistance. Is that realistic? I don't intend to shower with it, but can it stand an occasional cleaning under a faucet with no problem? What happens to the gaskets after a few years, do they deteriorate?
Your watch will be water resistant until the seals fail. It should survive a wash underneath the faucet.
A watch that is rated at 50m will be water resistant to 50m as long as the seals are in good order. As most companies recommend changing the seals (crown and back) and pressure testing the watch at every service, and the service intervals are usually around 5 years, you should look to have your seals changed about every 5 years
I don't like being "that guy," but there's no need to make multiple threads on the same topic. There are also plenty of threads on the topic of WR, and will answer your question if you are willing to search around.
to the OP, you should be safe sen dipping in the pool or if you have to get your hands submerged (if you're fishing or something. I'd stay away from sports under water ir long stints but I have been in the pool with 50m watches and never had a problem.
I do find the matter of letting the OP know of typical forum etiquette as both necessary and useful. Besides, there are plenty of actually rude ways to notify a new member of forum etiquette, and plenty of them have been used on this forum before.
Quick rinse under room temp or slightly warm water as long as the crystal is tight shouldn’t be a problem as long as it’s been serviced recently. if your concerned have a good watchmaker pressure test it and service/ new gaskets as needed.
There are better and less risky ways to clean a watch instead of running it under a tap. It’s a risk I would never take, “waterproof watch” or not. YMMV, but if water eventually gets in, don’t blame the watch.
Lighten up. I have nothing against your post, it was just worded funny. You can’t hate being that guy if you’re that guy and so forth... anyway, sorry if I offended you.
Now I will say, do not attempt to Snorkel with any watch that is not specifically rated for the activity! And now everyone Snorkel!!
For battery, yes. Seals are usually 5. If you are an active diver with a real dive watch, then yes- every year.
1. Case: small piece of leather chamois. Leaves no lint. Wooden toothpick if one arrives with serious wrist cheese. 2. Bracelet: cheap ultrasonic cleaning machine ($50). 3. Crystal: Polywatch. There likely are people with the time and money to dash off to the watchmaker to check seals and water resistance, so they can run their watches under a faucet. That’s fine with me, but my preference is to skip the faucet altogether.